Westjet Airlines' staff and family members line up to view a Q400 regional airliner brought in by Bombardier Aerospace to show the airline in Calgary, Alta., Thursday, June 28, 2012. Westjet will begin receiving the Q400 for their new regional airline in 2013. (CP/Larry MacDougal) | CP

Canadian passengers flying in Western Canada will see some relief from rising airfares this summer as WestJet's new Encore regional service takes flight in June, analysts say.

The airline will add Fort St. John, B.C. to its network and use the first two 78-seat Bombardier Q400s on routes between Vancouver and Victoria, and Calgary to Nanaimo, B.C.

Additional routes will be added as it takes delivery of five more planes by the end of the year.

WestJet (TSX:WJA) says its entry into a new market typically lowers fares by up to 50 per cent and the arrival of Encore is already causing Air Canada to respond with its own fare cuts on some of the routes.

WestJet Encore's introductory fare on the Fort St. John routes to Vancouver and to Calgary are $109 plus taxes, or up to about $172. Air Canada is lowering its one-way fare including taxes by about 40 per cent to $225 from up to $372 before Encore arrives. The current fare for flights this month is even higher.

Introductory fares for the quick flight between B.C's capital and Vancouver will be $49 plus taxes (or up to about $87), while flights to Nanaimo will be $79 plus taxes (up to about $140).

Encore isn't having much impact on fares between Victoria and Vancouver, however, because of the competition from small carriers in addition to Jazz, says industry analyst Robert Kokonis.

The airline has firm orders for 20 Q400s and options for 25 more planes over the next six years.

After increasing its regional service in the West, WestJet plans to introduce Encore to Eastern Canada in about nine to 12 months.

Launching WestJet Encore in the West was expected by industry analysts.

"It's good news for consumers," said Kokonis, president of airline consulting firm AirTrav Inc.

"As they progressively increase the capacity as they get additional Q400s we're going to see these kinds of pricing benefits extended to consumers from coast to coast."

WestJet will also use the Q400 to add some capacity on routes that don't warrant a full Boeing 737.

Kokonis expects the airline will eventually use the planes to add flight frequencies targeting corporate and government travellers on the lucrative eastern triangle of Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto.

"Certainly there's going to be some very interesting pricing actions in the market in the next year and this is also a signal that WestJet's not just looking at Air Canada but they're looking at all competitors, including Porter," he said in an interview.

WestJet Encore's president called the upcoming launch a "historic moment."

"We are just getting started," said Ferio Pugliese, who is also a WestJet executive vice-president.

The airline said Fort St. John, the so-called Energetic City, creates a strong foundation for the new service as a centre for northeastern B.C.'s diverse economic base of oil, natural gas, forestry and agriculture.

The Calgary-based carrier is facing increased competition from Air Canada (TSX:AC.B), which recently announced increased frequencies in Western Canada with its own fleet of Bombardier Q400s, operated by Jazz. It plans to increase its capacity for example between Vancouver and Fort St. John by 19 per cent as of May.

A WestJet spokesman said starting in Western Canada is less about protecting its turf than making sure the Calgary-based Encore is comfortable with starting a new service and adding a new fleet type from its home base.

About 300 employees will be hired by year-end to operate the first seven Bombardier aircraft. Up to 1,800 will be employed when the service is totally ramped up.

Employees will earn about 10 per cent less than what colleagues make at the mainline carrier, but in line with a low-cost regional service, spokesman Richard Bartrem added.

WestJet also announced Monday that it will deploy its fleet of Boeing 737 jets to two more U.S. destinations this spring and beef up its mainline service to several destinations in Canada, the Caribbean and Mexico. Among the Canadian service enhancements is non-stop service between Toronto and Fort McMurray, Alta., a major centre for Alberta's oilsands industry.

On the Toronto Stock Exchange, WestJet's shares closed down 15 cents at $21.24 in Monday trading.

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Atomische:Wisconsin
http://www.atomische.com/series/WinterRecon

skovachsc:I fly over 50,000 per year so I see a lot of sunsets as I'm heading home to Seattle.

Whydah1717:Flying out of San Diego, north to San Jose. March 2011.

Whydah1717:Flying over the Mississippi River enroute to St. Louis. Coming from the east.

schlegeldiane:

schlegeldiane:

Jamie Siegel:Enormous ice cap crater near the arctic circle over North America.

pegni:Turquoise waters!

shaug65:Hitting Chicago

jbennecke:

atingram:Early morning departure from Portland, Ore. (PDX)

atingram:Flying around a thunder boomer!

atingram:Westward Bound Looking Down

atingram:Catalina Island in the Background

atingram:103-degree August Departure from ATL

therealCGB:Chicago by air

wendyc:the great sierra nevada

therealCGB:Marsh Mellow in the sky

knippd:The Andes from LAN Perú - Arequipa to Cusco

Robert Waters:From a San Diego to Newark flight, window seat. Somewhere in the American southwest.

bored99:I was in awe as I looked out the window and saw this--I couldn't believe that no one else seemed to be giving it a second glance

Phil Cassidy:Flight to the moon—I mean Belize!

bigdawg55:

bigdawg55:Big Island

Jaz Mac:County Down, and the community of Downpatrick

Jaz Mac:Open up your Golden Gate!

Stephanie Kuwasaki:On our way to Africa on a 7am flight out of Seattle, Mt. Rainier waved goodbye!

Sachem515:Shimmo and Coatue from the Copilot's seat of a Cessna 402 (600 ft)

Dave Wade-Stein:Flying into Salt Lake City

groovicool:This photo was taken June 11, 2011

groovicool:This photo was taken while flying into Arizona June 11, 2011.

melisabuigues:

Robert Melusky:Rare flight path way up North from London to New York

Robert Melusky:Somewhere in Micronesia taken from the Island Hopper

Robert Melusky:Truk Lagoon ( now Chuuk in Micronesia) was the loaction of one of the most fearsome battles in WWII, Operation Hailstorm.

groovicool:Geometry lesson while flying over Arizona...

Pat Mumford:Flying in to Portland, OR. Hello Mt. Hood.

joan d:out of seattle flying over mt rainier

IAMAFLATA:

Topher2882:Morning sunrise after breaking through the clouds above Denver.

Amber Tidwell:I took this on a flight from Fresno to Dallas

FrankiFenty:Studied abroad in China and took this pic

ArchieFrink:Catching the final glimpses of the beautiful Amazonian rainforest on August 1, 2011 after conducting research.

Marty Yawnick:It was leg 1 of a pretty long 4 leg trip. Flying from DFW to SFO was a pretty bumpy ride that day. As we were nearing SFO above the clouds towards the end of the day, the sun cast a perfect warm glow over the wing, engine and sky. This was the perfect moment where everything just seemed to burst into light. Shot and processed on an iPhone 4S.

neilt3d:

Traylyne:Maui Mahalo

prfaulkner:

KellyBermuda:

Hammond Egger:

Stacy Anderson:We were departing our gate to taxi and take off and outside the window I spotted some very lonely looking luggage sitting all alone on the tarmac.

dinaotearoa:

dinaotearoa:

nictravels12:

nictravels12:

Kara Hammer:

Kara Hammer:

Kara Hammer:

pbrittiam3:Heinz Field on descent to Pittsburgh Int.

Informed Observer:Waiting in line on the tarmac.

Informed Observer:

Informed Observer:

Informed Observer:

Informed Observer:

Informed Observer:

Estrogenx:

Estrogenx:

melanth:I was working the flight from Charlotte to NYC

JacMMXII:

MOONSHADOWDEBBIE:Waves high and it is very windy here in Pensacola Beach but we are lucky this storm passed us by!

lp0920:

siroadrnr:

siroadrnr:

Percy Ahene:

kimmyyyy1223:Flying to Cusco, Peru, which is at an elevation of 11,200 ft.

Kristin Depew:

RockLauren:Beautiful skies approaching Dallas

Debbie-Leigh Crofutt:Took this right after we took off. Roatan island, Honduras 07/12/2012

vexed weasel:A view of the Deepwater Horizon cleanup in the Gulf Of Mexico- June 2010

vexed weasel:The Beach Islands of Pinellas County FL- 2010

Walter Smith:Early evening flight from SJC to LAX.

erikjwithak:Taken from an American Airlines flight to DFW where we were diverted to Shreveport due to weather.

drmalibu:LAX - LIH

drmalibu:

sfogiants 02:

Chubbsy Wubbsy:Snuck this shot in off my phone. It WAS in Airplane Mode...

Chubbsy Wubbsy:Somewhere over the Midwest en route to Connecticut a few winters ago.

daughterofpurple:view over north america

Patrick Carnahan:Southwest flight from Denver to Portland.

Michael Shusterman:Flying over the poppy fields somewhere in Afghanistan. The light green are the poppies.

nowhr man:Across American landscape and beyond...

nowhr man:Across American landscape and beyond...

nowhr man:Across American landscape and beyond...

luckystar41091:Flying from Korea to the States!

animri:

Tadpolefarm:Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea

Tadpolefarm:Over Equatorial Guinea, En route Malabo to Bata.

coccinelle:landing in LaGuardia in the 90s.

coccinelle:landing in LaGuardia in the 90s.

MacAlec:August 2, 2010, over Virginia

nchudeau:

ltharvey45:

monktonmom:Visited this just 2 years prior; was a great surprise to fly right over it on my next trip out West.

SAMY B:ABOUT TO LAND IN PANAMA 6:30 PM

Joe Athialy:

Joe Athialy:Wings, on an early Indian morning.

bargeboards:The sun rises somewhere over Germany on our way to Amsterdam.

bargeboards:Mouny Rainier in the background on the approach to SeaTac airport. This was the only clear view that we had during our visit!

TacomaNancy:Flying out of Newark to Croatia, caught a beautiful glimpse of the beautiful Cape.

Christopher S Knell:Up in the Sky... Departing Burbank at Sunrise

gwiygul:New York Skyline Taking Off From Newark

brcarthey:In the foreground is a time-share resort built on the ruins of Fort Amsterdam. In the distance are cruise ships docked for the day. The capital, Philipsburg is to the left and Point Blanche is beyond the cruise ships.

Druuna:Flying out of Bogotá on a cloudy day in August. View of the Parque Simón Bolivar.

brcarthey:Cruise ships docked for the day in Sint Maarten.

PaulMarcus:rock islands of Palau....

brcarthey:Flying in a southernly direction, one can see one of the largest inland bays in the Caribbean. The control of Simpson Bay is shared between the island government (former Dutch colony) of Sint Maarten (to the right/south) and the French colonial government of Saint Martin (to the left/north).

Jen0141:I took this photo as I was leaving the most relaxing, wonderful vacation of my life. I was there for 9 days, and in that time Hurricane Sandy developed and passed through the northeast US, where I was returning. My flight was cancelled 3 times trying to get back.

arch blang:Sunrise over Yorke Peninsula, September, 2012

arch blang:Wilpena Pound: looking towards Lake Torrens Aug, 2007

jelias:

Delphine Mary G:

Delphine Mary G:

Delphine Mary G:

Delphine Mary G:

Delphine Mary G:

rwc24908:Mt. St. Helens from 9800 feet on 8/17/2011. Passenger in a Vans RV-9a.

pjollymore:

rickroessel:Finland by FinAir

cynsha:

cynsha:

cynsha:

Claire Hawley:Islands near Phuket in the Andaman Sea

Janet Logan:A very short local helicopter flight to the lovely Scilly Isles, starting with Tresco.

Michael Spenard:

Valerielynne22:

Keith Dana Robertson:

cmosquito:These colors are no exaggeration and the pic hasn't been altered or enhanced in any way. Absolutely stunning!

yindoll:Casually gazing out the window at the expanse of sky and clouds, I was not expecting to see ... traffic! Right there at eye level was a passing jet!